Party + Wedding Ideas

Fruit Balloons DIY

by Brittany Watson Jepsen

We’ve been planning a “fruit party” for a few years now, the gist is that everyone brings an exotic fruit and we, the hosts, provide a batch of the more common kinds. Who doesn’t want to feast on a smorgasboard of Mother Earth’s natural sweets? These balloon garlands were a cinch to make and provide maximum effect.

You will need: balloons (make sure to get some long ones for bananas), green paper for leaves, twine, scissors, tape

Step 1: Blow up your balloons. To really make them look like fruits, size them proportionally so that a blueberry is smaller than an orange, etc. To make the grapes I taped the small purple balloons in clusters.
Step 2: Tie the twine around each end of the balloon.
Step 3: Cut out leaves

Step 4: Crease the leaf to provide the 3D effect.
Step 5: Tape the leaf to the balloon using the end of the balloon as the stem.
Step 6: Continue tying the balloons to the twine to create the garland. Have fun fruiting!

photography by Hilda Grahnat

Geometric Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Garland DIY

by Jenny Batt

Maybe it is because sunshine makes me think of tacos, but I have fiestas on the brain.  I really think it is just the pretty summer sets coming out everywhere that are making me think of bright pops of color hanging from string. Fun patterns of easy to cut shapes gives a update to the traditional fiesta bunting. What fun!

All the instructions and more photos after the jump.

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Paper Dots Garland

Here is a little fun party garland made out of my favorite material: crepe paper. I was playing around with it for a different project and loved how these looked like kind of like candy, or else like little polka dots or beads. They’re so sweet. It’s a pretty simple project, all you need is a pair of scissors and crepe paper folds. That’s it!

Click through for directions and more photos.

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Paint-dipped Baby Food Jars DIY

by Chiara Alberetti Milott

Anyone with a baby knows how quickly those glass baby food jars can fill up the recycling bin. This DIY is a pretty, fast and inexpensive way to decorate for a baby shower or a baby’s 1st birthday – simply by dipping the baby food jars into paint.

Materials needed: clean glass baby food jars (labels removed), paint, and a shallow bowl.

Step 1: Pour out some paint into the bowl – you don’t need much, maybe 1/2 cup or so.

Step 2: While holding the bowl on an angle, dip the jar in, and begin slowly turning the jar as it touches the paint.

Step 3: Sit the jars right-side up to dry. I let mine dry overnight. It’s important to let them dry right-side up first so that no paint drips in the wrong direction.

Step 4: Turn the jars over for a few more hours to let the bottom dry.

I think this would be lovely with all different colored dipped jars. You could even get adventurous and double-or triple-dip them to make stripes.

Fill with flowers or tea lights, and let the celebration begin!

All photos by Kate Mathis.

Mini Cakes DIY

It was Roman’s birthday yesterday and I wanted to make him a cake but we don’t have any cake pans. I remembered seeing this article where you could use a tin can to bake a cake so I decided to try it. It was really really easy and the cakes turned out very little and sweet.

To make the cakes:

Step 1. Remove paper from the empty can and clean it. Grease and flour the inside of the can. To bake fill can a little over half full with batter. I baked these at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes but my oven is not consistent so make sure you check them by dipping in a toothpick until it comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely before removing.

Step 2.  After you remove the cakes use a bread knife and cut off the rounded top. Then cut the cakes into little layers. Be very careful to cut them flat and even.

Step 3. To frost pipe a thick line of frosting around the very edge of the cake. Then with a wet knife smooth over the frosting to make it consistent and go all the way to the edge. Gently place the next layer on top and repeat until you are finished. Pipe the top of the cake with frosting and smooth with a wet knife.

all photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day

ps: How to make that polka dot print and Roman’s birthday last year.